The present invention relates to a running carriage arrangement for a sliding door, containing a housing receptacle to be inserted into a cup bore on the sliding door, a housing to be inserted in the housing receptacle, a running carriage with rollers or slides, and mechanisms for shifting and adjusting the running carriage, wherein this running carriage can be shifted and adjusted vertically relative to the housing
Running carriage arrangements for sliding doors are known in many diverse embodiments in the prior art. One such known embodiment includes a housing receptacle, which can be inserted in a cup bore hole on the upper edge of the sliding door and affixed to the sliding door using threaded bolts or the like. In the central, largely circular ring-shaped receptacle part, a disk segment-shaped housing is inserted, on whose upper side the running carriage is affixed. The running carriage can consist of slides or, for higher-quality embodiments, of one or two roller pairs, which are designed for the purpose of rolling along in a guide rail.
In European published patent application EP 0 814 226 an additional running carriage arrangement is described, which has a housing with lateral, parallel flanks, that is guided vertically in the housing receptacle with corresponding parallel running guide surfaces. Using an eccentric disk, which is held rotatably on the housing receptacle and engages into a slot-shaped opening in the running carriage housing, the running carriage housing can be shifted vertically and thus adjust the vertical position of the sliding door relative to the guide rail. This device achieves the purpose of vertical adjustability for which it is intended.
However, for the adjustment a tool is necessary, since to rotate the eccentric disk large torques are necessary, depending on the weight of the sliding door, in order to be able to overcome the frictional forces in the slot-shaped opening. This also necessitates that the eccentric disk and the slot-shaped opening be manufactured from a high-quality material. On the other hand, it is not ensured that through vibrations the position of the eccentric disk can change and thereby change the position of the sliding door.
An object of the present invention is to create a running carriage arrangement with a vertical adjustment device having a large possible lift path and operability that does not require a tool.
This object is achieved by a running carriage arrangement of the type described at the outset wherein, for the vertical adjustment of the running carriage in the housing, a threaded bolt is used and an adjusting wheel is set on it. The adjusting wheel lies in a recess of the support of the running carriage, which can be shifted vertically in the housing, and the adjusting wheel can be rotated from outside of the housing.
Using a ribbed adjustment wheel, partially projecting out of the housing receptacle, the sliding door can be easily adjusted by hand after its installation, without the operating person having to force himself into the cabinet and without a tool having to be laboriously introduced xe2x80x9cblindlyxe2x80x9d into an eccentric disk. The adjustment can, as a result, be performed from the outside by grasping the sliding door from behind and actuating the adjustment wheel by hand, while at the same time observing the adjustment of the sliding door.
The running carriage arrangement according to the invention can be manufactured in a very cost-effective manner, and the parts necessary for the adjustment, which are heavily loaded by the weight of the sliding door, include a threaded rod, e.g., a commercially available threaded bolt, and the adjustment wheel, which can be a commercially available or slightly modified threaded bolt nut. This adjustment mechanism is self-locking. After the adjustment to the desired position, under normal usage conditions, there is no troublesome change of the position once it is assumed. Under rough usage conditions with heavy vibrations, the adjustment wheel can be held in its position by additional fixed adjustment or holding mechanisms.